http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/senate-call-for-snc-s-recipe-for-anarchy/110329/
29 Feb 2012

By  Kunle Akogun     
   
The Senate Tuesday dismissed the recent call by some eminent citizens for the convocation of a sovereign national conference (SNC), describing it as anti-democratic and a recipe for anarchy.

Its spokesman, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, who said this during an interactive session with newsmen, pointed out that only the members of the National Assembly, who were the elected representatives of the people, were constitutionally mandated to deal with the issues raised by the proponents of the Conference.

Some prominent Nigerians, including Nobel laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, former Governor of Kaduna State, Alhaji Balarabe Musa, renowned constitutional lawyer, Prof Ben Nwabueze, Lagos lawyer, Femi Falana, and the wife of the late human rights lawyer, Ganiyat Fawehimi, met in Lagos recently and resolved that the convocation of the SNC was necessary for a proper restructuring of the country.

However, Abaribe told journalists yesterday that going by the provisions of the 1999 Constitution, only the members of the National Assembly could affect any amendment to the constitution for the good governance of the country.

He said: “What we say actually is that if you say there are some persons somewhere who will write something else as constitution, then what obtains is that the person has no confidence in the present democratic set up and anybody who said he does not have confidence in the present democracy is nothing but seeking for anarchy and when people make assertion of that nature, we do not have anything to say other than if you are a democrat, then seek democratic ways for effecting change. So if you want to make a change in the constitution you have to go through your representatives in the National Assembly.”

Abaribe said the National Assembly is not afraid of discussing any issue neither is it against any forum where national issues are discussed, adding that when everybody is working under the 1999 Constitution, then it is necessary to follow the stipulation of that constitution and the method of amending the constitution.

He said: “The National Assembly is not against any forum where national issues are discussed and what the Senate feels and the National Assembly feels is that we are all working under the 1999 constitution and when you work under the 1999 constitution, then you must necessarily follow the stipulation of that constitution and the method of amendment to the constitution is also stated there.

“Section 9 of the constitution stated this clearly. So whatever you want to change in terms of amending the constitution to meet whatever reality you want, you have nowhere else to go except to bring it through your representative in the House or your Senator to the constitution review committees that have been set up by both houses.”

Abaribe denied insinuations that the National Assembly is afraid of the national conference, describing such insinuation as “a misnomer.”

The Senate spokesman also spoke on the probe of management of subsidy funds by the Senate, even after the House of Representatives has recently concluded investigation into the same issue.
He said there was nothing wrong if the Senate does the same thing as the House of Representatives, adding that both complement each other at the end of the day.


According to him, the probe by the Senate Committee on Petroleum (Downstream) started even before that of the House and they derived their mandate from the Senate resolution.

He said: "When a Senate committee goes out to do a public function it is through the mandate of the whole Senate. The probe on oil subsidy by the senate committee on Petroleum resources downstream arose out of a motion that was sponsored by Senator Saraki and others alleging the mismanagement of subsidy and of course the probe was started first by the senate and it cannot abandon that probe. It has to complete the mandate given it to by the senate.

“The point is what we do as a senate and what the House of Representatives do compliments each other. As for the House I do not know the mandate they have, but for the senate, it is seeking to look at the mismanagement. Recall that it was N1.3trn at that time but now we hear is has risen to N2trn. And so whenever they finish they will bring the report to the senate and we will debate it. So there is no controversy and as far as we are concerned there is no conflict,” he said.

ACN Reps disown House over national conference
February 24, 2012 by John Ameh, Abuja
Mr. Femi Gbajabiamila

The House of Representatives is divided on the calls for a Sovereign National Conference to discuss the future of Nigeria.

Barely one week after the House said such a conference was unnecessary, the Action Congress of Nigeria caucus on Thursday dissociated itself from the position of the House.

The caucus said Nigeria was ripe for a conference where Nigerians would agree on the way forward for the country.

The Minority Leader of the House, Mr. Femi Gbajabiamila (ACN, Lagos), led members of the group to a news conference where they disowned the House.

On Thursday last week, the Chairman of the House Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Mr. Zakari Mohammed, said in Abuja that the leadership of the House considered the SNC unnecessary.

According to Gbajabiamila, the House neither discussed nor took a position on SNC either in plenary or in executive session to warrant Mohammed’s comments.

He noted that there were two issues to be decided by Nigerians — one was whether they wanted a new constitution written.

He said the second was whether they wanted a review of the 1999 Constitution.

The ACN leader argued that the National Assembly would be useful only when Nigerians preferred a new constitution.

Gbajabiamila said, “If they want a new constitution, the National Assembly is not empowered to give them a new constitution.

“That is why as a caucus, we insist that Nigerians should first meet and decide what they want.”

On the position that the entire House opposed the SNC, he said, “At no time did the House sit together as a body either in plenary or at an executive session to take a position on this very important national conversation.

“It is therefore important that as a caucus and a party, we state our position clearly.

“We wish to make a clear distinction between writing a new constitution and amending the existing constitution.

“If the national consensus is to write and produce a new constitution, then such will be outside the purview and mandate of the National Assembly.

However, Mohammed said the caucus was entitled to its opinion, insisting that the House was against the SNC.

The House spokesman explained that the SNC “threatened the very existence of the National Assembly as a democratic institution of governance”.

He added, “We are saying that the National Assembly can address the grievances of the proponents of the SNC.

“The ACN caucus is entitled to its opinion, but you will agree that their number is not the same as the number of the whole House.

“In any case, it is the majority that will always carry the day.”

On whether the position of the House was debated on the floor, Mohammed said “it is not every issue that must be debated by the House before a position is made public”.

The ACN caucus also opposed the fresh $7.9bn loan sought by President Goodluck Jonathan to fund pipeline projects.

It observed that the loan was “never part of the 2012-2015 medium term expenditure framework”, besides the fact that it would raise Nigeria’s foreign debt profile to $14bn from the present $6bn.

“In any case, it is the majority that will always carry the day.”

Kilode?!:

Hopefully those who want SNC but keep voting ostrich politicians will remember this dismissive retort from Rep. Zakari Mohammed next time they go to the polling booth. 

Gbawe:

Let it be clear , for the record, the Political Party that is acting responsibly and on the side of Nigerians at a critical point when Nigeria needs it "good men" to act so "evil does not thrive". This is for the revisionist who will tell us differently tomorrow to satisfy their obsession with giving a dog a bad name to hang it.

Truth be told, the ACN does this consistently only to get no credit (at least on NL) because the minds of many now remains damaged, beyond redemption, by hatred and feudalism. Other Parties simply have no enduring ideology or passion. They are always 'missing' when important issues confront Nigeria. Tomorrow we will hear that the ACN is a "Yoruba Party" whereas ,in reality, it is obvious this is currently the only Party with politicians who consistently speak of progressive ideas the whole Nation can benefit from. When Nigeria faces problems, other Parties conveniently lose their voice or actually betray Nigerians by acting openly in support of the unpopular and nationally rejected Policies of the FG . As I said earlier, hateful revisionists should take note.


http://www.punchng.com/news/acn-reps-disown-house-over-national-conference/